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Atletico Madrid and Chelsea locked horns at the National Arena in Bucharest in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie. In what was a tightly-fought contest from start to finish, Thomas Tuchel's side were rewarded for their gritty performance, as they recorded a 1-0 victory in Romania.
Olivier Giroud was once again Chelsea's savior in the UEFA Champions League, as the Frenchman scored one of the goals of the season in the second half to win the game for his side.
Chelsea started the game on the backfoot and nearly fell behind in the opening exchanges of the game after Edouard Mendy's gaffe in front of goal. However, the Blues breathed a huge sigh of relief as the ball went out of play.
Neither goalkeeper was made to work too much in the first 45 minutes, as Atletico Madrid sat deep and absorbed all the pressure from the Premier League side. The second half was more of the same, but Chelsea broke the deadlock through a moment of magic from Giroud.
Giroud takes center stage for Chelsea in Europe yet again
The former Arsenal striker's magnificent overhead kick found its way into the back of the net past the despairing dive of Jan Oblak, as the Blues took a surprise lead in Romania. However, after being flagged offside by the on-field referee, play was paused for a lengthy period as VAR reviewed the footage for a considerable period.
Giroud's wonder-goal was eventually allowed to stand after it was adjudged that Mario Hermoso attempted to play the ball back to his goalkeeper moments before the goal.
Atletico Madrid piled on the pressure after the goal but were unable to find an equalizer, as they head into the second leg with a massive job to do against a resurgent Chelsea side.
On that note, here are the best tweets from a memorable outing for Chelsea against Atletico Madrid.
